Heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live with today and what we pass on to future generations. Our cultural and natural heritage are both irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) seeks to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. This is embodied in an international treaty called the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted by UNESCO in 1972.POSTMARKSUNPA is pleased to feature World Heritage sites from the Czech Republic for its 2016 World Heritage stamp series. These stamps are part of a joint stamp issuance with the Czech Post and a special joint first day of issue ceremony took place on 8 September at the Sberatel 2016 – 19th International Hobby & Art of Collecting Fair in Prague, Czech Republic.47¢ – Historic Centre of PraguePrague is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe in terms of its setting on both banks of the Vltava River, adorned with its distinctive townscape of houses, palaces with towers, and buildings. Built between the 11th and 18th centuries, the Old Town, the Lesser Town and the New Town speak of the great architectural and cultural influence enjoyed by this city since the Middle Ages. The site was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 1992.$1.15 – Holy Trinity Column in OlomoucThe Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc is one of the most exceptional examples of the pinnacle of central European Baroque artistic expression. This memorial column, erected in the early years of the 18th century, is the most outstanding example of a type of monument specific to central Europe. Rising to a height of 35 metres, it is decorated with many fine religious sculptures, which are the work of the distinguished Moravian artist Ondřej Zahner. It was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 2000.CHF 1.00 – Gardens and Castle at KroměřížThe gardens and castle at Kroměříž are an exceptionally complete and well preserved example of a European Baroque princely residence and its associated landscape of the 17th and 18th centuries. The ensemble at Kroměříž, played a significant role in the development of Baroque garden and palace design in central Europe. It was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 1998.CHF 1.50 – Lednice-Valtice Cultural LandscapeBetween the 17th and 20th centuries, the ruling dukes of Liechtenstein transformed their territories in southern Moravia into a striking landscape. It combined Baroque architecture – mainly the work of Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach – and the classical and neo-Gothic styles of the castles of Lednice and Valtice with countryside fashioned according to English romantic principles of landscape architecture. At 200 square kilometres, it is one of the largest artificial landscapes in Europe. It was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 1996.

€ 0.68 – Kutná Hora: Historical Town Centre with the Church of St. Barbara and the Cathedral of Our Lady at SedlecFrom the early 14th century to the early 16th century, Kutná Hora was the second most important town in the Kingdom of Bohemia after Prague. This is still apparent in the town’s exceptional wealth of historical architecture. This site was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 1995 as an outstanding example of the medieval town whose wealth and prosperity was based on its silver mines. The Church of St. Barbara and other buildings were underlined as having particular architectural and artistic quality and as having had a profound influence on subsequent developments in the architecture of Central Europe.€ 1.70 – Historic Centre of Český KrumlovThe historic centre of Český Krumlov is situated on the banks of the Vltava river, which provides a natural setting of great beauty. The town was built around a 13th-century castle belonging to a member of the ruling Vitkovici family. This histoic centre is an outstanding example of a small central European medieval town whose architectural heritage has remained relatively intact thanks to its peaceful history over more than five centuries. It was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 1992.